CLEVELAND — Catholic singer and songwriter Matt Maher stood in the sanctuary of Cleveland’s renovated St. John the Evangelist Cathedral. Beneath its star-studded blue ceiling, Maher reminded his audience of the numerous generations who previously worshipped in the 175-year-old French Gothic church. He told his listeners they, too, should commit to “building something that outlasts you,” and he emphasized the importance of “depositing seeds to be sown by those who come after us.” 

During their Advent “Cathedrals” tour, Maher, fellow Catholic artist Sarah Kroger and a three-person band performed in the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit; in St. Clement’s Church in Chicago; Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary in Toledo, Ohio, and in the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph/St. Teresa of Avila in Brooklyn, New York. Their stop in Cleveland on Sunday, Dec. 8, was unique: The diocese intended the evening to serve as an evangelization tool.  

For almost two and a half hours, Maher and Kroger opened that door, moving their audience with Maher’s song, Lord, I Need You and with familiar hymns like Holy God We Praise Thy Name and Christmas carols ranging from The First Noel to Go Tell It on the Mountain. Behind them, special effects floated inside vibrant red, purple, green and blue lighting. Throughout the evening, both artists introduced their respective songs with observations for later consideration. Before singing his The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours), Maher pointed out that Christ had to teach his own disciples how to pray.  

Bishop Edward Malesic welcomed a multigenerational crowd of approximately 800 attendees. 

“Don’t let the walls of this cathedral contain your joy,” he urged. “Take that joy out into the streets.”  

In a pre-concert interview with the Register, Father Damian Ference, the diocesan vicar for evangelization, and Christy Cabaniss, diocesan director of missionary discipleship, explained that booking the concert was an outgrowth of July’s National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. During its closing Mass, the 60,000 participants were repeatedly admonished to proclaim the Gospel. 

Cleveland was prepared, having already trained its delegates in evangelization. 

“We took 250 delegates from Cleveland,” Father Ference said of the summer congress. “Our expectation was that, upon their return, they would reach out to others.” 

The concert by two popular Catholic artists, who both performed at the National Eucharistic Congress, offered an unusual opportunity. Instead of selling tickets as other venues had, the diocese bought out the concert and distributed tickets to Eucharistic Congress delegates, asking them to invite guests who were unchurched, agnostic, atheist or who had drifted from the Catholic faith.  

“We could have easily sold out the whole show to faithful Catholics who love Matt Maher and praise and worship,” Father Ference said. “And that would have been great. But how much more pleasing is it to the Father when we bring sons and daughters who haven’t been around for a while?” 

He said that it’s comfortable to rely on familiar approaches to evangelization. 

“To try new things, and to think new ways and to trust the Holy Spirit working is difficult,” Father Ference said, “especially because you can fail.” 

He advised against inviting non-Catholics to Mass as a starting point because they are unaccustomed to the sitting, standing, kneeling Catholics do. In addition, it would be necessary to explain Communion and why they can’t receive. Attending Mass should be a later step. 

“We would do well for the Lord if we would all seek opportunities to bring others into the small ways of our faith,” Cabaniss said.  

She recommended informal techniques to start a conversation about Catholic beliefs. 

“Would you be willing to take someone to the museum and discuss the Pietà or an image of Mary?” she asked. “Or an image of one of the saints? Or writings they’ve done? That’s not obtrusive or accusatory in any way, but it opens the door a little to think about our faith in another way.” 

Afterward the concert, attendees expressed appreciation for the singers’ comments and music. 

“The concert would be a great jumping off point for future reflection,” said Sarah Franks, a parishioner of St. Mel in Cleveland. Franks seized the concert as the perfect opportunity to get her husband’s best friend, a music lover, into the cathedral.    

Now 40, “Bob” had been raised Catholic but stopped going to church years ago. Although Bob initially seemed uncomfortable, Franks later noticed him drumming his fingers on the pew to the beat of the music and scanning the beautiful surroundings. He thanked Franks for inviting him. She eventually will ask Bob to accompany her and her husband to Mass. 

Dawn Cavanaugh, who leads a youth group at St. Francis Xavier parish in Medina, Ohio, attended the event with 18 high-school students, including seven participants in the Eucharistic Congress. One girl invited a Protestant friend, while others brought Catholic teenagers who don’t go to Mass consistently.  

All of the teens responded positively to the concert. 

“It wasn’t overbearing,” Cavanaugh explained. “That sometimes scares people away. It was an invitation to come back to Jesus. Matt Maher said that a couple of times.” 

A member of St. Casimir Lithuanian parish in Cleveland, Veronica Susnjara asked her mother’s cousin to meet her at the cathedral. The older woman is preparing to enter the Church through the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults. That morning, Susnjara’s guest cancelled because of illness. Although disappointed, Susnjara felt inspired by the evening, especially by Kroger’s rendition of Ave Maria and by the question the artists posed, “How are you saying ‘Yes’ to God?” 

Like many in the audience, Susnjara and her daughter Gloria wore red T-shirts identifying them as Eucharistic Congress delegates from Cleveland. The image of a monstrance replaces the “I” in “OHIO.”  

Linda Bennett invited members of her parish, St. Gabriel in Concord, Ohio, and practicing Catholics from other parishes. Ranging in age from 40 to 70, all are coping with grief or other troubles.  

“I knew this would bring them some joy and a moment’s respite from what they are going through,” Bennett said.  

Her guests’ reactions proved Bennett’s instinct was correct. 

One woman admitted she was struggling to make room for God in her life. 

“It has been a long year of emotional suffering, financial hardship and cancer for me,” she later confided to Bennett by email. “[But] I left full of peace and joy, and I’ve been praying to carry that into my corner of the world.” 

Both Father Ference and Cabaniss acknowledged it wasn’t possible to measure the concert’s success. 

Cabaniss predicted that “the stirring of the Holy Spirit, the excitement and joy of the moment” would impress those who didn’t expect it. 

“The reluctant hearts are going to experience the Lord in a whole new, fresh way,” she said. “That’s a crack that creates space the Holy Spirit can move into.” 

Father Ference will consider the evangelization effort a success if any attendees later say, “It was here that I first encountered God’s love or beauty or grace. Or community. Or healing.” 

“We’re not the ones who convert the heart,” Father Ference said. “The Holy Spirit does that. To get people into a space where there’s room for the Holy Spirit to move, that’s our job.”